Sunday, October 19, 2008

A young boy was walking in the woods one day when he came across a cocoon spun around a small twig. Remembering that inside a cocoon was a caterpillar that would soon emerge as a butterfly, he carried the twig and cocoon home very carefully to show his dad. They gently placed the cocoon in a jar, poked holes in the lid and waited patiently.

Each day, the boy would wake up and run to the jar to see if the caterpillar had turned into a butterfly.

One morning the boy ran to the jar and saw the cocoon shaking. He called for his dad and together the two of them witnessed the cocoon starting to open up. The boy could see a small wing emerge but he also saw the butterfly was shaking profusely to break through.

It seemed that although the butterfly wanted to get out of the cocoon, it was struggling.

The boy ran off and quickly returned with a small utility knife. He reached for the cocoon and sliced a hole in its side. Sure enough, this help the boy gave the butterfly allowed the small insect to break free. Strangely enough to the boy, the butterfly didn't do anything but walk around the rim of the jar.

It didn't fly. It just slowly walked around the opening of the jar and stood there looking around.

The boy was shocked and disappointed.

"Why isn't it flying, dad", the boy asked.

His dad responded, "The very strength that it would have taken for the butterfly to break out of its cocoon, is the same strength that it needed in order to spread its wings and fly."

So, the moral to the story is...

Start learning to solve your own challenges.

Don't rely on others to slice your cocoon open, because even if they do, you will not have the strength to fly on your own.

You are exactly where you are supposed to be at all times.

Even if you think you deserve more, you are getting exactly what you're skills and value dictate in the marketplace. Don't try to rush your progress or you will miss out on many of the true gifts that come with becoming successful.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Success is all a matter of perception. It can mean winning a gold medal at the Olympics, learning how to ride a bike, or reconciling with an ex. Of course, for many success also means earning a certain level of income or moving forward in your career.

No matter what success means to you, make sure you go for it with gusto. It has been my observation that nearly all of us set our expectations too low, usually because of fear or self-limiting beliefs. Yet, I have studied personal development literature for over 4 years now and one of the more common fears that I continue to read is to wind up on your deathbed not having at least tried for your dreams and goals.

What does it take to succeed at your dreams and goals? Success takes action, and taking good and appropriate action takes skills.

Here I have compiled a list of general skills that will help anyone get ahead in practically any field, from running a company to running a book club. As you read through this list keep in mind that anyone can develop this set of skills, and use them to go after, and achieve, their dreams.

1. Public Speaking

The ability to speak clearly, persuasively, and forcefully in front of an audience -- whether an audience of one or of thousands -- is one of the most important skills anyone can develop. People who are effective speakers come across as more comfortable with themselves and more confident.

2. Writing

Writing well offers many of the same advantages that speaking well offers: good writers are better at selling products, ideas, and themselves than poor writers. Learning to write well involves not just mastery of grammar, but the development of the ability to organize your thoughts into a coherent form and target it to an audience in the most effective way possible.

3. Self-Management

If success depends on effective action, effective action depends on the ability to focus your attention where it is needed most, when it is needed most. Strong organizational skills, effective productivity habits, and a strong sense of discipline are needed to keep yourself on track.4. Networking

Networking is not only for finding jobs or clients. In an economy dominated by ideas and innovation, networking creates the channel through which ideas flow and in which new ideas are created.

5. Critical Thinking

You are exposed to hundreds, if not thousands, of times more information on a daily basis than your great-grandparents were. Being able to evaluate that information, sort the potentially valuable from the trivial, analyze its relevance and meaning, and relate it to other information is crucial.

6. Decision-Making

The bridge that leads from analysis to action is effective decision-making -- knowing what to do based on the information available. Being able to take in the scene and respond quickly and effectively is what separates the doers from the wannabes.

7. Math

You don’t have to be able to integrate polynomials to be successful. However, the ability to quickly work with figures in your head, to make rough but fairly accurate estimates, and to understand things like compound interest and basic statistics gives you a big lead on most people.

8. Research

Nobody can be expected to know everything. And you don’t have to know everything -- but you should be able to quickly and painlessly find out what you need to know.

9. Relaxation

Stress will not only kill you, it leads to poor decision-making, poor thinking, and poor socialization. Being able to face even the most pressing crises with your wits about you, in the most productive way, is possibly the most important thing on this list.

10. Basic Accounting

It is a simple fact in our society that money is necessary. Knowing how to track and record your expenses and income is important just to survive, let alone to thrive. It’s a shame that basic accounting isn’t a required part of the core K-12 curriculum.

Start to implement these ten easy steps in your daily life and watch the change that starts to occur. I hope this helps you find your missing puzzle piece.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Truth: Internet Marketing is a teaching & mentoring business. If you study vitamins, or long-distance switches, or the age of the monk in the white lab coat that scraped the mold off the rock on the full moon twice a year ... or ANY product or service ... you're wasting your time.

Your product is people. So study people. Find out how you can help them reach their dreams.

THEIR dreams. Not your dreams.

People join people. They don't join companies. People don't care that the president of your company is a family man and has 3 or 4 families to prove it.

Build people. People will build the business.

When you build people, your retention rate goes through the roof.

Truth: People are people - not numbers. They have goals, dreams and desires. They are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews,grandmothers, and grandfather's to someone that loves them. They are not a number, but real people.

If you treat them like a number, I promise you: you have NO future in Internet Marketing.

This lie teaches people to be a recruiter, not a sponsor. Recruit, recruit, recruit. Numbers, numbers, numbers. Lies, lies, lies. A recruiter never knows their personally sponsored people's "WHY." or their dreams, goals, or spouse's or children's names. It's only about numbers.

To succeed long-term, you need to become a mentor with a servant's heart. When you do, people will ask you to PLEASE sponsor them into your business. Ever wonder why you get so many "NO"s? Take a look at ...

The Stupidest Lie They ALL Tell You!

The Heavy Hitters tell you "NO" is a good thing! Go get 100 “NO’s”, they say. You're just getting closer to a "YES."

THIS baby is REALLY one of my favorites!

Isn't it the stupidest thing you ever heard? What IDIOT came up with this idea? The word "NO" has taken more good people out of this industry that any other word in the English language.

Picture this: all day long you've been flirting with your spouse. At night you take a bath, candles around the tub, soft music, perfect for romance. Some hugging, some kissing. and your spouse says "NO!"

GREAT! Just 99 more "NO"s and you'll get lucky!

And some IDIOT says NO is a good thing.

There’s an old saying you hear from time to time: the reason you have 2 ears and 1 mouth is you should LISTEN twice as much as you TALK !